Dallas Cowboys: Well, for as funny as it is that the Cowboys were picked to be the best team of all time last year and then didn’t make the Romo hopes season is not fumbled away. -Cowboys playoffs, they were actually a good team last year. It’s pretty flukey that they didn’t make the playoffs, though bad coaching probably has something to do with it. It’s funny, statistically (well, just by offensive and defensive against the run and pass) they were more or less the exact same as the team that went 13-3 the year before. They were a good defense (12th against the run and 5th against the pass) and a good offense too (21st rushing, 9th passing). The problem was just the defense let up a ton of points, the offense turned it over a ton, and the defense NEVER turned it over. They were 5th in allowing pass yards but somehow third worst in the NFL in getting INTs. That’s probably somewhat flukish, I kind of think this would have been an 11-5 team last year if it had been coached by someone not retarded. Unfortunately for the cowboys, they’re STILL coached by the same retard and have a similarly retarded QB at the helm. They’re also a really old team and have managed to somewhat miraculously avoid the injury bug for two years despite their running qb. On top of all that, they lost a lot in freeagency in the offseason, including Greg Ellis, Zach Thomas, Tank Johnson, Roy Williams, some WR, Chris Canty, Anthony Henry (traded straight up for Jon Kitna, which seems like a bad trade but whatever), and some CB who likes rain. And as much as I kind of think all of those players are bad, they were still starters last year that are getting replaced by either aging vets (Keith Brooking) or unheralded young dudes (CB/FS Orlando Scandrick, for instance). This team is both old and really thin, they can’t afford injuries at all and that seems like a lot to ask for. If they DON’T get injured then they SHOULD be good, but even then you still have to deal with the fact that their coach managed to go 9-7 last year despite being one of the most talented and least injured teams in the NFL. I expect a slight defensive dropoff though not a major one, and possibly a dropoff in the pass game though also nothing major. Fantasy Potential: Roy Williams is their number one WR, with Patrick Crayton number two, if they’re healthy they’ll get plenty of touches, I’d guess. Romo is obviously a top fantasy QB too, despite being a bad actual qb. Defensively I think they’re a decent pick, I’d guess they’re a top 10 defense that probably will get more TOs than last year. Marion Barber is really good but had a disappointing season, they’ll be looking to Felix Jones a lot so I’d guess he’ll get a ton of touches this year and be a good fantasy back. Witten is probably the best fantasy TE in football. Outlook: As I said, I don’t really get how they went 9-7 last season. I think I’d have a better understanding of why they might go 9-7 this year. New York Giants: Man, the Giants appear to be an actual good organization, despite overpaying for Eli. They’ve been the best team in the Eli Manning hopes to avoid the pressure and win a second Super Bowl. -NYGiants NFC over the past 6 years or something like that, they keep their good players, and they manage to even be deep, two years in a row they’ve been hurt pretty badly, worse than most NFL teams and still won an SB and were the best team in the NFC last season. This year their offensive line returns looking good – they were the best team in the NFL rushing the football – and their defense should improve with Umeniyora back (they were still good last year, 8th and 9th against the run/pass) though they signed Chris Canty for insurance. I’m really curious who their backup qb is with David Carr, Rhett Bomar, and Andre Woodson all in the mix. A defense anchored by Kenny Phillips and Antonio Pierce is pretty good. In the offseason they lost nobody excessively important, one of their players shot someone in the foot and is going to jail for two years because of it, though I understand that the guy he shot had it coming anyways. They lost Derrick Ward at RB so now they basically have Bradshaw and that’s it. I kind of think Brandon Jacobs might be the top fantasy back in football this year. Last year he was 6th in the NFL in yards, gets a lot of goalline touches obviously, and is essentially the lone RB behind the best offensive line in football (or one of the best at least). As a team this team is largely unchanged from last year, and they were pretty good. In theory the loss of Sammy Knight and Sam Madison could hurt the secondary, but that’s pretty unlikely… I think they’ll be good again. Fantasy Potential: I think Jacobs is arguably the best fantasy back in football. The defense is also arguably the best. The offense gets a lot of points, but USUALLY from the defense, they won a lot of games last season like 40-10 because their offense had the ball the whole time. They can get beaten by a really good pass attack or a really good rush but… it’s tough to say exactly why they lost the 4 games they lost last season. Dominick Hixon is their number 1 WR so he’s a nice pickup for an offense that can be explosive when it needs to be. Outlook: they went 12-4 last year and don’t appear to have gotten any worse. 12-4. BM
